During its Monday Statutory Meeting, City Hall deferred voting on the amended by-laws proposed by the Re-negotiation Committee after a heated debate between the Councillors.
The deferral however, did not go down well with the former PNC General Secretary Oscar Clarke, who emphatically stated that installing parking meters is the legal right of the Council.
“We are not going to move away from our legal responsibility. Under the law, we can initiate parking meters in Georgetown, and we will. No matter how many people you bring to gather and make noise outside, that doesn’t change the position of Council. Council has a right and Council will carry out that right,” Clarke said.
In the end, the Councillors were given the extension of time and would meet on April 4 at 14:00hrs to complete discussion and vote on the amendments.
Following re-negotiation, SCS and the M&CC reached a new agreement under the controversial Parking Meter Project, which will now see persons paying $150 per hour and $800 for eight hours of parking in the city. Meanwhile, residents of the city would be issued with a restricted residential pass for free parking from 17:00-19:00hrs Monday to Friday, while parking will be free on Saturdays.
Under the modified contract, both parties have agreed to have an oversight committee set up to monitor, review, and manage the operation of the project. The committee is expected to have three representatives from City Hall, 3 from SCS, and one third party with the terms of reference for the committee expected to be agreed upon at a later date.
The Committee’s report noted that during the renegotiations, the subject of share profit and contractual obligations were discussed and it was agreed to have it remain the same being the 20/80 M&CC-SCS for a period of 20 years. It was also disclosed that in the event of arbitration, the proceedings would be held in Miami, despite the jurisdiction being Guyana.
